3 Reasons to Read … League of American Traitors by Matthew Landis

So many books come out each week that it makes it hard to decide what to read. We want to make that a little bit easier on you by sharing our favorite releases from the week and telling you our top 3 reasons why we think you’ll love them too!

This week one of our selections is League of American Traitors by author, Matthew Landis. Are you ready to hear more about this book and author? Here we go…

National Treasure meets Hamilton in a breathless history-based thriller from an outstanding new voice.

Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it. . . .

When seventeen year-old Jasper is approached at the funeral of his deadbeat father by a man claiming to be an associate of his deceased parents, he’s thrust into a world of secrets tied to America’s history—and he’s right at the heart of it.

First, Jasper finds out he is the sole surviving descendant of Benedict Arnold, the most notorious traitor in American history. Then he learns that his father’s death was no accident. Jasper is at the center of a war that has been going on for centuries, in which the descendants of the heroes and traitors of the American Revolution still duel to the death for the sake of their honor.

His only hope to escape his dangerous fate on his eighteenth birthday? Take up the research his father was pursuing at the time of his death, to clear Arnold’s name.

Whisked off to a boarding school populated by other descendants of notorious American traitors, it’s a race to discover the truth. But if Jasper doesn’t find a way to uncover the evidence his father was hunting for, he may end up paying for the sins of his forefathers with his own life.

Like a mash-up of National Treasure and Hamilton, Matthew Landis’s debut spins the what-ifs of American history into a heart-pounding thriller steeped in conspiracy, clue hunting, and danger.

3 Reasons You Should Read…

League of American Traitors
by Matthew Landis

One of the snarkiest, funniest, and most clever narrators you’ll read this fall. Jasper is a little all over the place, but he will grab your heart and won’t let go.

League of American traitors is definitely about history, so if you’re a history nerd you’ll love this. It ISN’T a historical fiction though, oh no. This takes place in the now, though Landis brilliantly weaves the past and present in one exciting adventure. We’re talking duels, like real duels with guns! And car chases, and poison, and conspiracies and so much more. The premise–The League–is made of up modern day descendants of some of America’s most notorious traitors … how cool is that? Even if you aren’t a history buff, you’re going to find yourself completely enraptured by this story.

We’re pretty sure that Matthew Landis is a hoot at parties because this book is dark but funny and it’s all handled exceptionally well. And even more, it’s believable. Jasper’s wit and humor, even in the most fraught situations, will have you laughing, but thinking maybe you shouldn’t be. It’s got fast paced, edge of your seat action from start to finish and it’s such a fun read!

***Meet Matthew Landis***

Raised in Bucks County, PA, Matthew Landis returned home after four amazing years at Penn State to the greatest job of all time: teaching 8th graders American History. He also convinced the most ridiculously amazing girl he’d ever known to marry him, bought a dog, lived in a renovated barn for two years, and then decided it was time for a home that didn’t have animals underneath.

It’s simpler than that: he loves history, but not in the old, awful, kill-me-now-please kind of way. His passion is convincing his students that the past is actually hilarious, shocking, tragic, disturbing, and altogether UN-boring. While getting his graduate degree in History at Villanova, he realized that there was yet one more way to do this: write contemporary young adult books laced with history to convince his students that the past doesn’t have to be a life-sucking topic. That’s a huge reason why he wrote The League of American Traitors.

Some other stuff: he loves poetry but don’t understand it; he wants Gordon Ramsay to give him a fatherly hug at some point; he tends toward the unapologetically dramatic; he’s a recovering gamer who can sometimes be found reading the novelization of HALO. He firmly believes that self-deprecating humor is the best kind, and he strives imperfectly to love Jesus and those he put in his life.